r ngj 
.K37 






CUBAN INDEPENDENCE-WAR WITH SPAIN. 



Tliere are times and conditions when a war-made hell is to ho preferred to hells 
croated and existing by other means, and a time and a condition now exists that 
warrants war— war, that the Spanish-created hell in Cuba may be destroyed, and 
that that Spanish-created hell of February 15, 1898, may be avenged. 



SPEECH 



HON. RICHARD R. KENNEY, 



OF DELAWARE, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1898. 



WASHITSTG-TOI*. 

1898. d 

at- 



/ 






272 



\ 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON EICHARD li. KENNEY. 



The Senate having under consideration the following resolution: 
Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Relations of this body be directed 
to report at the earliest practicable moment, and without waiting for the 
concurrence or advice of any department of the Government, what action. 
if any, in view of the loss of the battle ship Maine and the destruction of the 
lives of 366 American sailors, and in view of the well-known deplorable con- 
dition of Affairs in the Island of Cuba, is required from the Congress of the 
United States to sustain and vindicate the honor and dignity of this nation, 
and to meet and answer the obligations of humanity imposed on this Gov- 
ernment as the result of the condition of affairs in said island, and that said 
committee report by bill, resolution, or otherwise, as it may deem most ex- 
pedient- 
Mr. KENNEY said: 

Mr. President: I feel that little can be said that will be new 
or original on the Cuban situation. • The field of argument and 
oratory has indeed been well covered by the distinguished Sen- 
ators who have already spoken on this most important question; 
and were it not from a sense of duty that I feel I owe to those who 
I have the honor in part to represent on this floor, I should not 
trespass upon the time of the Senate. 

Mr. President, there is not in all this land a constituency more 
united in favor of Cuba's independency than mine. The people 
of no State have more earnestly espoused the cause of suffering 
Cuba than those of Delaware, and were I to fail to voice their 
sentiments in this regard and for them to speak to all the world, 
I would fail in my clear duty to those I represent. 

Many times during the last half century have the people of Cuba 
risen in rebellion and by force of arms endeavored to free them- 
selves from the bondage of Spanish misrule, and, although often 
defeated, have never lost heart. Revolt has followed revolt, and 
repeated failures have been the results thereof, but the spirit of 
freedom was planted deep in the hearts of the people, and, watered 
by the patriot blood of thousands slain, grew until to-day it at- 
tracts the attention of all the world. 

3205 ?, 



4 

The struggles of the people of Cuba for freedom are known to 
all students of history, and need no recital from me. Seldom, if 
ever, in the history of the world, has there been such an example 
of unselfish suffering for liberty's sake as by the people of that 
unhappy island; and if ever there was a people who deserved the 
aid and sympathy of the civilized world, they are the people of 
Cuba. 

On May 20, 1897, Mr. President, the Senate passed by a vote of 
41 to 14 the following joint resolution: 

A joint resolution declaring that a conditionof public war exists in Cuba, and 
that strict neutrality shall be maintained. 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That a condition of public war exists between 
the Government of Spain and the Government proclaimed and for some time 
maintained by force of arms by the people of Cuba, and that the United 
States of America shall maintain a strict neutrality between the contending 
powers, according to each all the rights of belligerents in the ports and ter- 
ritory of .the United States. 

The joint resolution went to the House of Representatives and 
was, for reasons satisfactory to that body and the Administration, 
suffered to sleep the sleep that knows no waking. Had that reso- 
lution been considered by the other House of Congress and con- 
curred in, and the Administration, acting in obedience thereto, 
recognized the belligerence of the Cuban insurgents, to-day Cuba 
would be free and independent, and so without the help of any 
nation of the earth — thousands of the now dead would be living, 
untold suffering and misery would have been averted, and millions 
of treasure saved. Yes, Mr. President, had belligerent rights been 
granted to the Cubans, they would have worked, out their own 
salvation, and the United States would not have been compelled 
to adopt measures contrary to its traditions and to have spent mil- 
lions of the people's money. The responsibility for this will be, is 
fixed by the unerring judgment of the American people. 

Mr. President, who is it that refuses to the people of Cuba free- 
dom? The Spanish Crown. That nation, through whose instru- 
mentality (by Christopher Columbus in 1492) the islands of the 
West Indies were discovered, and who, taking advantage of the 
credulity of the innocent and j>eaef ul aborigines they found there, 
first enslaved, then debauched, and then persecuted and murdered 
until for more than two centuries they have been extinct; that 
nation that for more than four centuries has written its history in 

i>&6 



blood; that nation that conceived and brought forth the Inquisi- 
tion, the doings of which put to shame the tortures of the Prince 
of Hell himself. 

Even in this age of enlightenment and Christian civilization the 
Spanish Government lives in the past; goes back to the Dark Ages, 
to ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance. It is this Spain that re- 
fuses liberty to the people of Cuba; this nation that in this civ- 
ilized age conducts war not against armed men in the field, but on 
women and the helpless; that uses starvation as its chief weapon 
and torture as its ammunition. It is Spain that holds in bondage 
the people of Cuba; that nation that produced and honored an 
Alva and created a Weyler, the butcher; that nation so senseless 
to honor and the instincts of humanity that starving thousands 
awaken no chord of sympathy in its breast; that nation, which 
by reason of its brutal misrule and cruelties, though once the pos- 
sessor of this continent, to-day owns Cuba alone; that nation which 
on the 15th day of February, A. D. 1898, committed the crime of 
the nineteenth century— the destruction of the Maine and the 
murder of 206 American seamen in the harbor of Havana. 

Mr. President, was there ever before in the history of the world 
a more diabolical crime? Was there ever such a foul murder so 
long unavenged? I see, as I speak, the red flash from that hell-fired 
mine, and the crash of iron and steel together, with the mangled 
f orms of the brave sailors and seamen, and hear their shrieks and 
cries of pain and terror, as crushed and shapeless they are hurled 
into eternity. 

Mr. President, it has been the policy of this Government to be 
at peace with all the nations of the earth, and that policy has been 
most faithfully carried out, and war has been entered into only as 
a last resort— only when every other means has failed. The people 
of the United States do not to-day desire war for war's sake. 
They, many of them, have seen war and know its meaning, the 
lesson having been learned as participants in great and bloody 
battles. They know that "war is hell." Yet, Mr. President, 
there are times and conditions when a war-made hell is to be pre- 
ferred to hells created and existing by other means, and a time 
and a condition now exists that warrants war— war ths.t the Span- 
ish-created hell in Cuba may be destroyed and that that Spanish- 
created hell of February 15. 1898, may be avenged. 



&iU5 



6 

No longer, Mr. President, will American freemen witness star- 
vation, outrage, and crime in Cuba and remain idle. No longer 
will they permit to go unavenged the blood shed in Havana Har- 
bor. No longer can pleas of "wait a little longer"' hold them 
back from a duty so clear and plain. No longer can the whim of 
the administrative branch of the Government and diplomatic clap- 
trap deter them from meting out justice to the perpetrators of 
these crimes and outrages. 

The honor of the nation is at stake. Humanity demands action, 
action that is plain — grim war. The cold clay, the speechless lips 
and pulseless hearts of the Maine's dead heroes cry out to us for 
vengeance; the starving, diseased Cubans pray to us for help. 
Can we refuse to hear these appeals? No. Mr. President; Ameri- 
can manhood and American chivalry give back the answer that 
innocent blood shall be avenged, starvation and crime shall cease, 
Cuba shall be free. For such reasons, for such causes, America 
can and will fight. For such causes and for such reasons we should 
have war. 

3205 ~. 




015 999 921 ft 



